June 3 – Some important events on this day.
1539 👉🏼 Hernando de Soto claims Florida for Spain.
Commissioned by the Spanish crown to conquer Florida, Hernando de Soto and his expedition of 10 ships and 700 men landed on the coast of Florida on this day. He was then one of the wealthiest and most successful of the Spanish conquistadors, having worked as a slave trader in Panama and the West Indies and as Francisco Pizarro’s second-in-command during the conquest of Peru.
His travels through the American south east in search of conquest and treasure would last three years. In 1841 his expedition made the first European sighting of the Mississippi River. De Soto died of a fever in 1542 and his body was interned in the Mississippi River.
1620 👉🏼 Construction of the oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, begins at Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
1621 👉🏼 Dutch West India Company (WIC) receives charter for The West Indies (The Americas, Caribbean and West Africa)
1851 👉🏼 1st baseball uniforms worn when the NY Knickerbockers wear a uniform of straw hats, white shirts and blue long trousers.
1929 👉🏼 Chile and Peru sign the Treaty of Lima, finally resolving their border dispute from the War of the Pacific (1879–83). Chile keeps Arica and Peru regains Tacna.
1943 👉🏼 A mob of 60 from the Los Angeles Naval Reserve Armory beat up everyone perceived to be Hispanic, starting the week-long Zoot Suit Riots
1956 👉🏼 Rock ‘n’ roll is banned in Santa Cruz, California.
At a time when adult authorities around the country were struggling to come to terms with a booming population of teenagers with vastly different musical tastes and attitudes, Santa Cruz captured national attention for its response to the crisis. On this day, city authorities announced a total ban on rock and roll at public gatherings, calling the music “Detrimental to both the health and morals of our youth and community.”
1968 👉🏼 American radical feminist Valerie Solanas attempts to assassinate Andy Warhol by shooting him three times. She is later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and pleads guilty to “reckless assault with intent to harm”, serving a 3 year sentence.
1976 👉🏼 Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” goes gold
1979 👉🏼 Ixtoc I rig in the Gulf of Mexico blows, spilling 3 million barrels of oil in one of the worst oil spills in history
1989 👉🏼 Beginning of the Tiananmen Square Massacre as Chinese troops open fire on pro-democracy supporters in Beijing.